Gohan

Comparision of the voice over actors who have been the voice of Gohan with sound clips and images.

Gohan is the eldest son of Goku and Chi-Chi and was named after Goku's adopted grandpa. He is also the very first half-blooded Saiyan and during several moments in the series was the most powerful fighter on Earth and in the Universe.

Gohan is a kind person and being pure of heart can ride the Flying Nimbus. He is also a very smart person due to extensive studying under Chi-Chi's supervision

In the English dub of the Dragon Ball Z anime Gohan was originally voiced by Ocean Group voice actor Saffron Henderson for the Saban and Funimation version of the series. Henderson also voiced Gohan for the original English dub versions of the first 3 DBZ films.

When Saban left Funimation they recast the role and Gohan was then voiced by Stephanie Nadolny for the Funimation version of Dragon Ball Z from the Ginyu saga onwards. Nadolny also voiced Gohan for the re-dubbed episodes originally voiced by Saffron Henderson, the Dragon Ball Z films, plus the re-dubbed films originally voiced by Saffron Henderson.

However Saffron Henderson continued to voice Gohan in an alternate dub for Europe and Canada up until the Cell Games saga. She left the series during that time because it conflicted with her planned wedding.

So for the Cell Games saga in the Ocean Group dub Gohan was voiced by Jillian Michaels.

Comments

If I'm going to be completely honest, there's actually issues with both Saffron Henderson & Colleen Clinkenbeard as Gohan. Saffron sounds more like a young boy, but the acting, just isn't there. And Colleen, while having stronger acting, sounds a bit femine. That actually holds them back. I feel this is a case where both actresses just aren't on the same level as Nozawa.

Maybe whenever Ocean's dub of Kai comes out( which basically feels like a dream at this point) maybe I'll switch to Saffron, but for the time being, my vote for Clinkenbeard will remain for now.

This may sound weird to say, But I'm at a point where no voice for Young Gohan clicks with me. It partially because going back and forth playing older and newer dragon ball games, I've heard it switch so much between Colleen and Stephanie that I'm now thrown off whenever I hear either voice come out of him (not helped by the fact that I mentally associate both of their little boy voices with other characters).

It's also not helped that I've always preferred older Teen Gohan from the Saiyaman saga onward to Young gohan, so mentally when I think "Gohan" I immediately think of Kyle Hebert's performance. I'm probably in the minority there since I know Gohan's development post Cell Games is not thought of highly in the fanbase, I just always thought he was a more interesting character when he was in high school.

And honestly whenever I think of Young Gohan, I that I really think of is the image next to all these actresses, Gohan silently standing in SSJ2. I guess in my mind Child Gohans should be seen and not heard.

So I guess what I'm saying is that I can't really choose any of them, not that the actress's did a bad job mind you is just that so many factor have drained the idea of Young Gohan having a voice from my mind (I did start off saying this might be weird, right?)

I was listening to the Big Green dub of Worlds Strongest the other day. That part where the characters are laughing, Jodi Forrest as Gohan for an instant sounded like Masako Nozawa. Just thought that was worth bringing up.

@Shaun Ince When I first heard the Ocean dub, before I had any idea of budgets/unions/etc., I was just casually browsing various dub comparisons & I thought wow, this Saffron Henderson sounds a $hit ton like Masako Nozawa.

@SoylentGreenIsPeople Nadolny isn't my favourite out of all these voices (It's either Colleen Clinkenbeard or Staffon Henderson for me personally) but I don't think lashing out at people who happen to prefer Nadolny is really justified. It's just a difference of opinion really.

@SoylentGreenIsPeople
1) You can't stop people from preferring Nadolny if that's how they feel: they have the right to an opinion. While it's debatable on any poll on the site whether the winner is the best or not, if people end up choosing one performance as the best, then I think we should respect that.

2) The people who prefer Nadolny may prefer it out of genuine preference without nostalgia, as well, I have seen some comments here that offer a good case for why that is. Just because I don't think Nadolny is the best Gohan, that doesn't mean everyone who disagrees is wrong, or didn't give Clinkenbeard etc. a chance.

@SoylentGreenIsPeople I voted for Stephanie, and it's likely to stay that way for the foreseeable future.

One reason is my vote remains with her is that, despite her rough voice, I felt that her acting in her later performances when she had more experience was a LOT more organic and fitting Gohan's character than Colleen's performance.

One point that I brought up on this very page is her screaming. When Piccolo dies in the Saiyan saga, Colleen's screaming sounds like a generic, shrill war cry. Stephanie gives a more emotionally robust performance.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mg2tDOtJewM

Stephanie makes Gohan sound both furious and on the verge of crying at the same time. Her voice never changes drastically either.

Not only is Colleen's scream less emotional, it's also incredibly grating, and her voice immediately stops sounding childlike and more like a grown woman.

Then there's also this scene:

https://youtu.be/dKgOXr2nsao

Unfortunately, I can't find the Kai version of the scene to give a direct comparison, but I'll try to explain my points anyway.

In the Kai version of this scene, Colleen sounds like a typical, upbeat kid. The way she says everything makes Gohan sound like he's completely comfortable around Piccolo and full of positive energy. In Stephanie's performance in the above clip, Gohan actually sounds worn down (he has been regularly getting the crap kicked out of him and training all day after all) and less steadfast. He may be getting to know that Piccolo isn't as mean and anti-social as he seems, but this is the same person who kidnapped him, left him in the wilderness to survive on his own, and has been running him ragged and beating him up. Stephanie's performance has some appropriate timidness and tiredness, Colleen's does not.

I hear a LOT about how Colleen supposedly portrays these traits better, but from where I'm standing, it's only in the most superficial sense. That being that her vocal pitch and lack of rasp is closer to what Gohan should ideally sound like. Other than that, I thought Stephanie has done a much better job at giving a robust and accurate performance for Gohan's character.

Stephanie's voice is definitely rough, and a lot of her body of work as Gohan hasn't aged well, but with her later years in the role, I feel she had fully captured the soul of the character. And Colleen's voice may be more fitting on the whole, but her shouting and screaming is so character-breaking and grating until the later episodes that I'd gladly would have taken Stephanie over what we got.

There. I just gave you a long, detailed case for why Stephanie has my vote. Instead of pointless antagonism, why not ask people why they like Stephanie next time? Maybe we can all have a nice, civil, open discussion? Oh wait, your comment clearly shows that's not what you want. You don't care.

I really hope this isn't what you're all about, dude. You've only been on this site for a day, so I hope this is a one-time thing and you're not just a troll.

@PsychicVoiceSpy
I'd argue that Colleen brings out more of Gohan's traits later in the series (Frieza-Android Saga). I'd agree that her work early on in the series wasn't exactly the greatest, especially when it came to shouting.

Stephanie's rough old sounding voice, I feel, just doesn't have the qualities to fit the meek, timid Gohan in my mind, despite her acting somewhat encompassing these traits.

I've never said anything disagreeing with Stephanie's voice not being accurate for Gohan. It isn't, plain and simple. The closest she got was with Android/Cell saga Gohan, and even with that voice it took her years to get that sounding good.

So, we almost agree on your second point as well. Where we differ is that I feel her acting is noticeably better (and for me, her voice isn't bad enough to kill it in general), whereas you feel her acting only somewhat cuts it.

The bottom line is that I feel Stephanie's acting is good and consistent enough that I can look past her voice's faults. Colleen's screaming and generic performance, are, for my personal preferences, more of a drawback than Stephanie's shortcomings.

If Colleen had better screaming and a more robust performance from the get-go, then I'd likely have voted for her. As is, I only feel she really grew into the role in the Android saga onward.

I was honestly pretty unsure how Colleen would do as Kid Gohan at first, and I didn't agree with the casting choice FUNimation made at the time, but after viewing it in full, I can really say Colleen managed to make Kid Gohan her own. She manages to receive proper direction in the role that allows her to pull off the very calm, shy, and polite mannerisms of the character, while also making him endearing to listen to: my only gripe are the screams can get a bit effeminate, but other than that, she's an excellent fit for the character.

2. Saffron Henderson:

Honestly, other than her acting being a little flat at times, Saffron was a pretty good Kid Gohan, and I really do wish she got another shot in Kai, but sadly, it seems like it wasn't meant to be the case. It's really a testament to her talent that she could pull off such good voices for Kid Goku & Gohan, under the direction Ocean/FUNi/Saban & AB Groupe went with in their earlier takes on them, and do them fairly well for the most part.

3. Stephanie Nadolny:

I have definitely heard worse boy voices before than this one, to be honest, and to credit Nadolny, she did at least sound pretty masculine in the role...but it's sadly to a fault of making Kid Gohan sound a bit too old for the part, and she was considerably more hoarse & raspy here than she ever was as Kid Goku. I don't really hate this performance, but I don't really like it, either: it's OK.

4. Jillian Michaels:

No offense to the great Jillian Michaels, but she sounded far too effeminate and soft as Kid Gohan. Then again, it's an AB Groupe dub, so I can hardly fault her for working with that lackluster direction when she has done better work in her career elsewhere in these kinds of roles.

5. Jodi Forrest:

Yet, Jillian Michaels' performance sounds great compared to this take, which is all over the place. Sometimes, she actually sounds like a little boy, but other times she sounds like a grown woman doing a really screechy and forced voice.

@GreenGoblin75
To reiterate, I have problems with Steph & Colleen. When Colleen just talks when Gohan is happy, she nails it. I also like her screams (I.e. SSJ2). But when Colleen yells while saying something, her voice slips out of young boy into screeching woman territory (no offense Colleen). Stephanie's voice and the screams sound kinda off to me. Her yelling, on the other hand, is great. I'm still going with Colleen, but all Gohan voices have their ups and downs.

@Dr.Who The one I'd really like to hear, though, is Ethel Lizano from the Philippine dub. There aren't any proper clips around at the moment, but the little I have heard suggests she could be Top 3 material. Or at least Top 4.

Saffron Henderson is my preferred voice for Gohan, unlike Goku I feel Gohan should have a more soft spoken performance and voice unlike the rough and tumble type of voices Goku tends to have. I'm glad she's going to reprise for Ocean Kai. I know she'll do very well.

Colleen Clinkenbeard is my second favourite, she's not perfect and can be grating however I find her take more fitting for Gohan than Nadolny's take. Stephanie is too rough for Gohan while Colleen's more feminine take works a lot better considering his characterization.

Jillian Michael sounds too feminine for Gohan, I know she could have done this role better.

Jodi Forrest is definitely the worst here. She sounds even more feminine than Jillian which amazes me that you can do so?

Jodi Forrest frustrates me. She actually has two Gohan voices. Her voice for older Gohan I think actually sounds really good. I honestly think she might have been the best Gohan were it not for the awful script.

Her voice for younger Gohan is really bad. She's increibly shrill sounding and it doesn't take long to get on my nerves. What a shame.

Time to go into some more detail on what my favorite Gohan voices are.

1. Colleen Clinkenbeard. Fits the meek timid character that Gohan is in the Saiyan Saga. It also sounds way more age appropiate.Her screaming is pretty good too. It can grate at times, but not as much as somebody else I'll be mentioning below.

2. Saffron Henderson. Like Colleen she has a good voice that fits Gohan as well. It's not too raspy or soft. If I had to criticize it, it would have to be the screaming. It's not particularly strong when it comes to her Gohan. I know the sound clips don't demonstrate this, but just listen to her Saiyan/Namek saga stuff & you'll understand what I mean.

3. Stephanie Nadolny. Her voice for Gohan has not aged that well. Gohan at 4 years of age should not have the raspy voice she gave for Goku & eventually the 10/11 yr old Gohan. The rasp is overkill in some parts of DBZ, though this is more evident in the FUNimation in house dub of the first two saga's. While I can tolerate Clinkenbeards screaming, I can't say the same for Nadolny. She sounds like she's pushing herself way too hard. Now if she got the chance to come back and improve, I'd be all for it, but do what Laura Bailey did in Battle Of Gods & tone down the rasp. It would sound much better that way.

4. Jillian Michaels. This voice sounds way too feminine. Her Gohan voice is one of the more untolerable voices in the Ocean dub. She could have beneifited from much better voice direction. It wasn't particularly strong in this saga. Infact it was perhaps the weakest when I think about it. In Jillian's defense, she did fit Goten a little better, but it's still not at the level we'd want it to be.

Saffron Henderson for me sounded the most like a boy while also being capable of emoting and screaming properly.

Stephanie's Kid Goku is wonderful, but not her Kid Gohan: it was too deep and gruff. That said, she improved a lot later on in the games, and it's a shame she wasn't retained in Kai: I'm sure we could've seen a better performance from her.

Colleen's Kid Gohan is far better than her Kid Goku, and the voice itself works, but I find her screaming and emoting is very grating- you can really tell it's a woman doing the voice and it gets to me at times.

To me, Stephanie Nadolny is Kid GOKU, not Gohan. Her delivery seems to match Goku's free-spirited bumpkin attitude more than Gohan's polite intellectualism. Colleen fits Gohan a lot more, in addition to sounding a lot more like a real 4-9 year old. And the lines she's given to say are better, but that's the writers, not the acting.

Colleen is perfect for the role. She really captures the innocence and kindness of Gohan really well. She sounds very natural too and makes him sound more like a young boy. Even as Teen Gohan, she was great. She slightly deepened her voice enough without making it sound too old. She pretty much nails it.

Stephanie Nadolny's Gohan voice was way too rough and throaty. She does a much better job as Kid Goku. She's pretty much perfect for that role. Kid Gohan, not so much.

Has anyone else but noticed that every time Funi's tried to recast one of their licensed properties with Colleen (rather than have her from the start) it always tends to blow up right in their face? So she's Luffy, big whoop, that doesn't mean she's some false idol or golden goddess. No, golden goose is more like it.

What did she really bring to these roles outside of your perceptions of "Was she better than this person?"

...

That's what I thought.

It's not that I hate the new for being different (I'd say Brina Palencia is the anti-Clinkenbeard [well, save Rei Ayanami]), it's just that you can't take a piece of art - a piece of historical value, dip it in gold, and proceed to call it "godly" as if you knew best for it.

@PsychicVoiceSpy
What I'm saying is you can't expect go in with the mindset that something "new" will always be "better." Some things may improve with time, but drawbacks in certain components can always be proven down to a science, be it the environment or a specific input (i.e. actor).

This is also why I cannot, for the most part, stand the redubs of stuff like Castlevania:SotN, Lunar: Silver Star Story, Silent Hill HD and the Viz dub of Sailor Moon.

@rosebr10 "What I'm saying is you can't expect go in with the mindset that something "new" will always be "better."

Funny you say that. Because you could make the same argument about the "old/original voices as well. New choices might not always be better, but don't go by the mindset that the original is always better overall. There are some cases where the original VA's don't hold up very well at all.

@rosebr10 I'm extremely late, but in the case of Sailor Moon & Dragon Ball, the whole *story* was totally not intact, pretty heavily censored & altered (moreso in DB's case), & it's practically not "the same show in a different language", but an adaptation loosely based on the same story.

Nadolny's Gohan is extremely overrated, IMHO. Her vocie was so raspy and gruff, that I couldn't even listen to it without my throat feeling strained. Colleen not only had amazing emotion, but her voice fit the more meek, timid and pacifistic character of Gohan much better. Maybe I'm a bit biased considering Colleen is one of my all tile favorite VA's, but I am seriously sick of people whining about her Gohan. She put everything she had into this performance and deserves better than this.

I recently re-watched some stuff with Nadolny as Gohan (the fight with Cell and Bojack) and I don't know what happened but I honestly can't stand her voice any more. Performances I remember being great were actually more annoying than anything else. I'm voting for Masako Nozawa in my heart but Colleen Clinkenbeard here.

@Soldierkei That is EXACTLY the reason why she's still perfectly listenable as Kid Goku. Kid Goku STARTS the original Dragon Ball at about 11 or 12, whereas Stephanie's performance as Gohan ENDED when he was 11 according to the original dub and 9 according to the manga. The voice does sound older, so it fits Goku more. Not to mention that, like you said and like I mentioned in another comment, Gohan is very polite and soft spoken, kind of an intellectual, whereas Goku's characterization, particularly in Japanese but also in the dub of the original Dragon Ball, has always been "know-nothing country bumpkin".

@CatsTuxedo Colleen got better around the Android/Cell arc, but it's not enough to make up for the earlier parts. Also, I'm changing my vote to Henderson since Nadolny's delivery is kind of flat and Henderson sounds closer to Nozawa anyway.

@CatsTuxedo That's fair enough I guess. I still think Henderson's screaming isn't up to par like Clinkenbeard & even Nadolny to an extent. But as far as sounding closer to Nozawa I can't disagree with that.

Stephanie Nadolny: Stephanie is undoubtedly the most masculine sounding Gohan. This is a problem. Despite the video game's insistence of referring to him as Teen Gohan, by the end of the Cell Games Gohan wasn't even as old as Goku was at the BEGINNING of Dragon Ball. This is a major part of why I think Stephanie is much better as "Kid" Goku who actually was a teen for most of Dragon Ball. Not to mention that her Gohan is bizarrely raspier than Goku. Sorry guys, I just don't get why so many people like her Gohan.

Saffron Henderson: Saffront had a decent start with Gohan. Too bad she never got to cover much material because of the episode gap in the Ocean dub and her leaving the role later.

Jillian Michaels: While a little too girly at times, she does have a pretty natural voice for Gohan. A shame that direction for that part of the Ocean dub was so weak.

Colleen Clinkenbeard: I've always had mixed feeling about Colleen as Gohan. There are times where she got a little grating and inconsistent. But I still feel like she had the most complete experience with Gohan. She's not perfect, but I've got to vote for her for now.

Honestly, none of these performances quite work for me. I'm really hoping that Ocean raises the bar in Kai and gives us a really great Gohan, whoever it may be.

Of the current voices I have to rank them like this.
1. Colleen Clinkenbeard
2. Saffron Henderson
3. Jillian Michaels
4. Stephanie Nadolny

Colleen: GREAT, her screams are not "badass" but then Gohan is a small child, they're still pretthy intense.
Saffron: Good voice, good acting, but it's too "badass"
Stephanie: she has a badass voice.... but it goes against the character. the acting was good though.
Jillian: GREAT voice, weak acting

Personally, I feel as if Kai's Gohan would of been better if they split the role to both Colleen & Stephanie. The first time watching Kai, I felt that Colleen executed the role rather well (From the Saiyan Saga to a little bit over the Android Saga). However, after Goku & Gohan finished their training in the Hyperbolic Time Chamber, Gohan looked much older and Colleen's voice didn't fit as much as it did (I know the kid's 11, but that's just me). It would be rather interesting to hear Stephanie reprise her role for the rest of the series as Teen/Pre-teen Gohan.

Saffron gets my vote. She was awesome as Kid Goku and was awesome as Kid Gohan. Too bad she left near the end of 2000 due to her work schedule conflicting with he wedding. Would've been awesome to hear her as Teen Gohan.

It adds to the suspense IMO. I don't mind hearing what he's thinking. Just saying nothing is beyond boring. Since it originated in the manga, that's like taking the thought bubbles out of comics and not adding monologues, speeches, or any dialogue for that matter to Spidey or Superman. It doesn't hurt to know what they're thinking, someone saying we know Uncle Ben died, or Thomas and Martha Wayne, they shouldn't mention that ever, the result would be something like this scene, comic books where probably the only dialogue period would be during battle, or confrontation of some short, like when Spidey confronts Burglar. To know their emotion and that they're rather than it being obvious is a lot more interesting. If Toriyama had added a box describing what exactly Gohan was thinking, that's better, doesn't necessarily need a thought bubble. If the dub let us hear his thoughts well he got mad, that'd be better than him screaming him out, everyone can tell he's pissed, but we got to hear his feelings when Cell smashed 16. Not just during battle.

However in the battle against Frieza, once Krillin got stabbed by 2nd Form, screaming YOU ANIMAL was unnecessary, as we knew Gohan was pissed about it, when Namek is exploding and Goku is apparently about to die with it, no monologue was necessary, but during the Buu saga, when Piccolo learns of Gohan's apparent death, he kills Babidi a few eps later, without a big enough motive, normally Piccolo is rational and doesn't act out like that, but for whatever presumably because of Gohan, Piccolo snapped and tried to kill Babidi, they don't give a reason for his behavior, but Gohan is my guess. Stating his thoughts, something among the lines of, "You'll pay for that Babidi", and after apparently killing Babidi, "Gohan, you've been avenged my friend"' would be appropriate to explain his actions. If my comic book example is too confusing, I got another, also during the Cell Games, when Cell killed Future Trunks, should Vegeta have just lashed at him without that monologue explaining what he was feeling, the monologue that explained he loved Trunks and was going to avenge his son no matter what? Or that last bit of thought Vegeta had right before he sacrificed himself trying to kill Buu. It works better when you know exactly what a character is thinking in situations like Cell killing 16 or anything I else I mentioned to back it up. FYI, I thought I lost this whole argument but fortunately I was smart enough to save it, but not before screaming #%^*, was that necessary, no, but anyone who heard it knew what I was thinking.

@pete I have to disagree with you on the wont watch this anymore point, and you brought up one of the reasons why you like it. You're right, we can tell Gohan was mad, we could tell he was devastated....so why do we need to hear about it? I think it has the opposite effect, it takes away the intensity of the moment. Gohan being silent and reacting to 16's death is suppose to be the final push to get him to let his power out, almost like a reflex, hence the silence, the traumatized look on his face. It's a very good "show don't tell moment" and it worked very well. That speech was done because they felt kids wouldn't get why Gohan was upset, it was done because they underestimated people's ability to grasp such an obvious fact, and felt the need to spell it out.

That speech is the equivalent of someone explaining to you why Simba is sad that his dad died right at the moment Simba is looking at his corpse.

@pete also, whether you find Gohan saying nothing "boring" or not is entirely up to you, it's your opinion, but silent moments were openly avoided in the dub, because the execs that wanted DBZ made out to be more of an American action show felt kids had attention spans that were far too short to handle moments of silents, even for less than a minute, hence why that speech is there. Silent moments serve a purpose, and I have to disagree. I didn't find it boring in the slightest. On the contrary, I thought it was chilling when I first watched the original scene, where Gohan doesn't say anything at all, and he just snaps. It didn't need to be explained, it just happened. The silence was the calm before the storm.

@Soldierkei Well maybe it was the way I perceive some of Kai's dialogue, compared to Funimation, and even the Budokai games, but I was hoping to compare the speech/delivery, and if it were Piccolo and Gohan just lashed out, without any flashbacks or something, and it just showed he were pissed, it's just generic anger IMO. Note I said the reverse for Piccolo attacking Babii, but it did work for Goku when Frieza killed Krillin, that's because though IMO, we knew what happened and why he became Super Saiyan for the first time, and even how Gohan first transformed.

@Soldierkei Another thing is there's no real reason to it, when Goku attacks Frieza he states it's cause Krillin died, and later on he attacks when the Cell Juniors are "born"' but just beating up because you saw them beat someone up is pretty one dimensional, the attack needs some sort of purpose and stated motivation, like because of the desth of a close friend or family member or it reminds me you of that, I could give examples but I really don't want this to repeat itself so that's all I'll say.

@pete Not a good reason? Gohan was a kid who just saw someone's head get crushed right in front of him. Anyone who could possibly help him is getting beaten down by the Cell Juniors. The most powerful being he has ever seen is threatening to torture and kill everyone he cares about. That's not a good enough reason? There's no need to make a motivation when the real one is easy to understand without being spelled out. Same for when Goku turned Super Saiyan. He doesn't stop and monologue about Krillin being killed. He gets out a single sentence before going ballistic.

@Nightmare Crusher I did forget what took place when, so anyone else dying in 16's place, but Frieza killing Krillin was a better motivation, as you knew that would affect him, and it has before but with 16, Gohan doesn't set off because he's too passive to help his friends but a random minor character dying, is what set it off, killing Piccolo would have been better honestly, as that would be similar to when Goku transformed and went off on Frieza, but maybe it was cause 16 was a Goku figure.

@pete It isn't just about 16. The whole situation set Gohan off, watching his friends and family getting tortured. 16 dying was just the straw that broke the camel's back. Goku didn't have the same circumstances. He thought Freeza was gone for good and the day was saved before he shows up out of nowhere and kills Krillin. Then there's the fact that Gohan is far more sensitive than Goku. He's still a kid, there's no good way for him to handle this.

#1) Colleen Clinkenbeard- While I like her more as the Saiyan to Frieza Saga Kid Gohan, she is still quite excellent in the role. My only major complaint are those awful screams that, as others have said, make Gohan sound like an insane woman in a mental asylum at times-- I hate those, too: scary as heck to listen to, honestly. The pitch of her voice is light, gentle, polite, and well mannered, which is what I like about her Gohan. 9/10

#2) Saffron Henderson = Stephanie Nadolny (Tie)- Saffron works for the Saiyan to Frieza Saga Kid Gohan, but not for the Cell Saga Kid Gohan. Meanwhile, Stephanie works for the Frieza to Cell Saga Kid Gohan, but not for the Saiyan Saga Kid Gohan-- Henderson had a lighter pitch but was scratchier than Nadolny, while Nadolny had a gruffer pitch but was less scratchy than Henderson. However, I will say that Nadolny had improved dramatically in the 2005-2010 FUNimation DBZ Redub and showed great potential there, dropping that gravelly pitch in favor of a lighter one. It's a shame because I really think Stephanie could've been the best Kid Gohan if she had more time in the role in Kai, but she didn't get that opportunity-- her voice has a charm the others lack.

8/10 for both these actresses, IMO.

#3) Jillian Michaels- The weakest Kid Gohan here, but I don't mind the girly pitch at all, since y'know, this IS a little boy we're talking about here. It's the acting and delivery that were so bland, plain, and forgettable that make her the weak link. That said, it's a strong weakest link. 7/10

Stephanie Nadolny is undoubtly masculine as Gohan which even surprises me. Shes one of those actors where you cant immediately guess its a woman doing the voice because of how deep she can go when necessary. Her yells as Young Gohan were unmatched because of how real they sounded at were at a pitch that sounded strong and not at all grating. She as SSJ2 Gohan also captures his fericious temper and more aggressive while confident nature. There is no doubt is the reason why a lot of people thought Young Gohan was the most badass version of him if not overall in the series. During that age in the cell saga I could believe he was really a young man.

However she just cant capture the sound needed for an innocent little boy and shouldnt have been casted as KID Gohan. Her voice especially in the awful remastered version sounded to gruff and gravelly for him. Though I heard she had a lot of creative imput on the character but didnt get to do him entirely as she wanted to because the director didnt agree.

Though in the video games, she has proven to be able to occasionally get Gohan's cuter side in occasional story mode dialogue but only coincidently and not consistant enough to really judge. I think if she had better direction and was able to get another chance at it.. she could rework her voice for a better potrayal of that one lacking quality.

Colleen on the other hand is the complete opposite, she nails Gohan's voice for his kid ages from 4 to 8... but....and find her best preformance in Tenkaichi tag. She knows how to make KID Gohan sound shy and innocent. However this qualty she has for him is only his speaking voice.
Carrying over that voice to the Cell games Gohan did not work for me at all. She made him sound a bit whiny.

Though the meat of my issue with her is just her yells. They are the most shrill, earsplitting squeals I've ever hears and I think its the main reason why she got so much hate on the role when kai was released. Her yells as Gohan are just unbarable. Not in quality, just in pitch. WAY too high, way too forced.

Especially in Piccolo's Namek Death scene... dear lord... I thought the Dragonbox handled the scene better when Stephanie just said "piccolo" and the echo looped over the rest of the scene as it pulled out... where as in Kai Colleen's "Piccolo" was stretched out for the entire scene and just made it so irritating to hear...
Again its not her, she has the talent for the job. its just her pitch comes off as very annoying. If she sounded more like Kara Edwards (Raging Blast 2 Recording) then I'd give her more credit.

@MicroPhoneBass My second choice would be jillian, at times she can sound a bit femimine like when she says "and he was just an android" but then again its not an issue because it makes Gohan sound innocent the context of his dialogue. I just nitpick. She's an okay fit, but like someone else said below; She makes it a bit obvious that I'm hearing a woman voicing a boy. Unlike Stephanine.

If Stephanie just lost the gruffness in her voice and pitched it up a bit she'd be perfect.

Saffron sounds way too gruff for Gohan, the same issue Stephanine has for Kid Gohan.

Stephanie hands down. Colleen, though well performed just doesn't quite fit. Ok she fits as 5 year old Gohan perhaps but 8 and up (Namek saga and beyond) it goes to Stephie. Main reason: The look and Kyle Herberts voice as adult Gohan is a convincing consistency.

Kid Goku on the other hand, it goes to Colleen because Sean Schemmel's Adult Goku is a better match in that respect.

Colleen for this one. Mainly because she hits the little and older male roles well in this. I would feel bad for her, she must have hurt her throat doing this. Anyways, Nadolny is 2nd mainly because of young gohan, it was hell to listen to IMO, Steph must of had a lot of trouble with it. Her older gohan was much better because it was easier for her, being more raspy than nasally (Which trust me, isn't her shtick.) But, It's Captain Clinkenbeard for me.

Colleen Clickenbeard and Stephanie Nadolny. Nadolny has that perfect male voice, however, Clickenbeard has the most natural, sounding like a child, with a voice that gives off a perfect performance. If you don't like Clickenbeard, then maybe it's because she doesn't use her Monkey D. Luffy impression, but I think it's like not liking Maile Flanagan's Naruto performance.

Is everyone here serious? I cant believe so many people perfer Clinkenbeard. She doesnt do Gohan's voice well at all imo, as a child or as a teen. She sounds like a girl. Stephanie did a great job with kid Gohan, though her voice wasnt perfect she still captures his innocence very well. I think Saffron was best at voicing kid Gohan though.

1. Colleen Clinkenbeard - Pulls off the young, innocent Gohan perfectly, and while the older Gohan is a bit forced, it's impressive how she distinguishes the voices.
2. Saffron Henderson - The acting wasn't always best, but her voice was very convincing sounding for young Gohan. Very clear and boyish.
3. Stephanie Nadolny - Does not fit young Gohan the way she fit Kid Goku. However, he older Gohan voice sounds the most natural.
4. Jillian Michaels - An okay fit, but here I'm most aware that I'm hearing a woman voicing a boy.

I love Stephanie Nadolny, I really do, but I've suprisingly got to hand it to Colleen Clinkenbeard. I'm very shocked that I'm actually that impressed with her. She really got this role down pat. She got Gohan's innocence down and really kept all of Stephanie and Saffron's good qualities and meshed them with her own.

I vastly prefer Clinkenbeard as the young Gohan of the Saiyan and NameK Sagas but I prefer Nadolny as Cell Games Gohan.

There's no doubt Ms. Nadolny was still pretty patchy and rough even at this point and she wouldn't iron out her performance completely until Dragon Ball (when she would be picture perfect as Kid Goku) but she still managed to give me my favorite DBZ moment ever.

Her scream when Gohan goes Super Saiyan 2 for the first time, and the subsequent screams in the next episode, were absolutely legendary. They captured all of Gohan's inner-most rage and pain.

Ms. Clinkenbeard gave us some great moments, like Gohan attacking Freeza or telling Chi Chi to shut up before they went to Namek. But her SSJ scream left a lot to be desired. For me, it just didn't have any feeling to it.

This is all very subjective I know but I guess I'll just stop by saying I think both Clinkenbeard and Nadolny did different but good Gohan's.

I like Colleen Clinkenbeard best as Gohan. Don't get me wrong, I prefer Stephanie Nadolny as Kid Goku and all, but Gohan is a somewhat more serious character than his father. I think Colleen Clinkenbeard did better because her performance reflected this. She shined a lot in the Cell games arc in the end, her performance when showing Gohan's weaker side, and more emotional ones trumped all the others.

I'm going with Stephanie Nadolny. None of them have given a perfect Gohan performance, but Stephanie has the most heart and charm, it's distinct as well. I want to say that Colleen did a great job, and in some cases she really did... but whenever she screams she doesn't sound like a boy, she sounds like an angry woman in her thirties that just jumped out of the window to an asylum.

She's a good actress too, but a lot of her delivery when she first started sounded forced and generic, not having nearly the same genuine warmth of Stephanie. Although she sounded age appropriate (in my opinion) that all flew out the window when she screamed. It was grating and distracting. Every time I would start enjoying her performance in the Namek saga she would have a screaming/shouting scene and it was completely jarring to me.

At the very end of the series she surprised me, I gotta give it to her, her acting during the final episode was superb. It wasn't perfect, and the voice still sounded slightly off, but towards the end she was starting to become a good Gohan. That being said, I still would have preferred for Stephanie to reprise the role.

@PsychicVoiceSpy I hate how they took out Gohan's I WON'T WATCH THIS ANYMORE line I was hoping to her take on it. That being said I think her Kid Goku was better but Stephanie beats her by far in both cases. The reason she didn't do Kai is cause she wasn't with FUNimation anymore when Kai came out plus her and Chris supposedly had an argument when she tried to reprise the role or something so she left and the role went to Colleen. I think they resolved their differences by now though.

@pete I would like Colleen a WHOLE lot more if it weren't for her ear-piercing psycho-woman screaming! I'm serious! Almost every single time Gohan has to raise his voice (except for the Cell saga, where I felt she had improved somewhat) Colleen makes me want to throw a someone down a flight of stairs! Her voice is fine, but her screaming is by far one of the most distracting and annoying sounds I've ever heard in an anime dub. It's simply atrocious! ... I'm sorry, but her screaming is really that annoying to me.

@pete That's not necessarily true. Dameon Clarke wasn't "with FUNimation anymore" either when he returned for Kai. There's a difference between doing work for a company and working for a company.

Why Stephanie didn't return isn't totally clear, but based on what she's said about the matter, it wasn't her decision. Colleen said it was because they wanted someone who would be more available to do it and "[Stephanie]'s been doing other things." Other recasts seemed to take place for similar reasons.

@PsychicVoiceSpy Exactly. Her screams may be loud and strong for the scenes as called for but the sound of them are just torture to listen to. Mostly because she just sounds like a shrill old woman when she does it. She never once sounded fitting for that aspect of Gohan.

They also sound unnatural and spoken instead of felt. (Compare Sean's Screams to Hers and you'll know what I mean.) To me, Sean knows how to yell correctly. Colleen just sounds like shes literally reading "HAAAAA!" really loudly.

@MicroPhoneBass You brought up a very concise point on Colleen's screams sounding spoken instead of felt. Compare the scream directly after Piccolo's death, Colleen gives a very high-pitched, loud scream. And it *somewhat* convincingly portrays Gohan's anger, but Stephanie's scream by comparison is more robust and emotional. She makes Gohan sound quite angry, but he also sounds like he's loosing it and on the verge of breaking down and crying at the same time. He sounds not only angry, but emotionally distraught and horrified by Piccolo's death, and Colleen doesn't give that same effect.

The same could be said when comparing most of Stephanie's screaming to Colleen's. Colleen makes him sound strangely adult (much more reminiscent of a grown woman than a child) and confident at times while screaming, and Stephanie portrays the extremes of his childlike emotion better.

Still have to go with Stephanie. She has a really unique sounding voice and seemed to fit the role of young Gohan better. She sounded more like a young boy than Colleen did. Colleen made Gohan sound like a wussy lil girl to me and her scream was so animated that it sounded fake.

Stephanie Nadolny certainly had a distinctive voice, but personally I think she was better suited as the voice of Kid Goku, not Kid Gohan. Colleen Clinkenbeard makes Gohan sound more like a 4-9 year old boy should sound I think.

I like Colleen because she sounds the most realistic out of these, considering that Gohan was only 6. I also like Stephanie as well. If I had to choose the perfect Gohan for the show, it would be Colleen for the Saiyan/Frieza saga, and Stephanie for the Androids/Cell saga.

My favourite Gohan is NOT Stephanie Nadolney (HUGE GASPS from fans) my favourite Gohan is Saffron Henderson. She had a higher voice and sounded more Innocent, Gentle and Cute while her touch of Huskiness in her voice still added toughness at the same time.
Some fans who review her unfavourably usually claim she made Gohan sound weak and others believe that she is only suited to the six year old Gohan. But an interesting thing about Gohan is he was never meant to seem strong, he was always sweet and gentle, and in fact all the characters were always surprised by Gohan's strength including him. Whenever Gohan did get angry though (watch DBZ movie#1 'Dead Zone'), Henderson really could portray a very strong and powerful Gohan. And if you take the time to watch the Ocean Dub from the Android saga to the Cell saga, Henderson did deepen her voice a bit to suit Gohan's current age at the time.

My least favourite voice for Gohan is.....dare I say it.....Stephanie Nadolney (Chased by angry fans) Okay I have nothing against Nadolney at all, I'm sure she's a nice person, the thing I didn't like about her portrayal was that her Gohan sounded too deep and croaky; there was no gentle feel to her Gohan at all, and if the whole point was to make Gohan sound constantly strong then they missed the whole point about him; because yes Gohan Is strong but that's not his real charm.

Colleen Clinkenbeard I did like. I feel her version was more ideal to Gohan than Nadolney's was. Her screaming and angry moments sounded a bit too feminine at times though and a bit cringing (I feel the same was about her as Luffy too) but otherwise still Strong and she still sounded like a little boy.

I liked Colleen's voice for Gohan a lot because she seemed to put a lot of effort into Gohan. I like Stephanie's voice for Gohan too, but it was rapsy from the Frieza Saga, and I was disappointed that she didn't redub Gohan longer for the remasted sets of the Frieza Saga.

I think I would like to share, now that she's up, that my vote goes for Colleen Clinkenbeard. Stephanie Nadolny in my opinion was a better Goku than Colleen, BUT Goku and Gohan are sort of different characters. Gohan is a more serious character in contrast to his more light hearted, happy go lucky father. Thus Colleen's somewhat deeper voice and when need be more somber tones suit Gohan best. I haven't heard the Canadians enough to judge them too much but from what I recall of Saffron Henderson's performance, it was so-so, but not as good as the Americans here. I haven't "seen" any of Jillian Michaels' work as the Ocean dub wasn't distributed in the States anymore before she took over, but if it's anything like her performance as Shippo from InuYasha she is the weakest link here. A strong weakest link though.

I honestly don't know about this one. Stephanie sounded REALLY hoarse at times and Colleen sounded pretty weak, even when he was an ssj2.
Also, I swear that there are like one or two clips where Gohan in the Big Green dub of all things sounds better than the normal English voices.

Teen Gohan is my favorite character of them all. So I'm very picky about this one!
Stephanie Nadolny is the best.
The other ones don't fit. I don't agree that Colleen sounds good in the new one. She sounds like a woman trying to make a deep voice.
I was playing Dragon Ball Z Ultimate Tenkaichi and I was met by a Super Sayian Gohan with the voice of Kid Goten. After I got through Hero Mode I looked in the Character Profiles and saw to my horror that it wasn't Stephanie! I have never heard of Colleen before now.
Stephanie did the best voice. She managed to do the boyish voice for him.

I'm sick of people saying the original Funimation Dub is just about nostalgia as they say for all other shows. It's the most accurate(especially with Kai) and the voice acting and characterization is great. It's not their fault the got corny lines but they delivered them well regardless. I'm sick of Japanese fans going on Funimation and Falconer music videos and trolling saying that it sucks or the music is terrible you don't like it don't harass the people who do state your point elsewhere.

@pete Well...I dunno...I think they're right. The original dub to me...is a guilty pleasure. It's what I grew up first, but as I grew up, it doesn't hold up very well. It takes too many liberties on the characters to the point that they're not how Akira Toriyama wrote them in the manga, the acting is a mixed bag (I watched it a few months back and I went "Really?" way too many times. I still get that in Kai but not as much), Chris Sabat voiced half of the cast (even as a kid, I could tell it was the same guy), the script is NOT accurate or faithful to the source material (except the Buu Saga, kinda), and well...the music placement does not know when to be silent. It's not entertaining anymore, and it's practically a different show with all the changes they made to the script. But, that's just me.

@pete Naldony made Gohan sound male not as much as an actual male can but still.Colleen did good with Cell at making him sound serious but not as good as Naldony was. Again the actors are not responsible for ANY of this. Thier abilty may not be as great as it could be but nobody's perfect and those actors are the must convincing at least as well, some the other voices are but not as much as the FUNimation cast. It's as close too good voice acting as you can get but isn't perfect.

@ConfusedPhantom You and me both. I'm surprised that I liked the show to begin with. The awful script, flat acting,(except for Dameon Clarke) and the constant droning music really bothered me when I rewatched part of it. If nothing else it shows how much Funimation has improved over time.

@penguintruth Steph's voice sounded older too for the Cell Games, and she didn't rely on a voice filter like Colleen. Not to mention her scream was a LOT more powerful. Colleen was pretty good as young Gohan, and Steph was good as older Gohan IMO! :P

@penguintruth She did sound a little old when Gohan was a toddler, but once the battle with Vegeta and Nappa got going, she sounded alright. Her voice was always more suited as older Gohan, but her delivery always matched his age. She did lower her register when Gohan emerged from the Hyperbolic Time Chamber, and her delivery and vocal range and build was definitely that of a 12 year old kid. I'm not saying she was perfect, but she was decent enough, especially as Gohan got older, and her delivery was always great, while Saffron and Colleen were good as younger versions (Saffron's voice does sound like a younger version of Steph's voice). But I'll also admit that Stephanie was slightly better as Kid Goku, while both Saffron and Colleen worked better for Gohan than their performances as Kid Goku.

Nadolny: I don't think her voice captures Gohan's innocence or growth very well. Personally...I like her better as Kid Goku and I think they should have kept her for at least that. But, I digress.

Henderson: She's decent. I liked her work on the three Pioneer movie dubs, course everyone did good in that. That's the 2nd most faithful dub behind Kai.

Michaels: Didn't hear enough to have an opinion here.

Clinkenbeard: As with Luffy, not a believable boy voice. It sounds like a girl...however, her performance is pretty well done as a whole. I pretty much bought how much Gohan grew throughout the series and that reflected on her acting and the way she voiced him. So, I liked her Gohan for that.

@ConfusedPhantom Incidently, they couldn't keep Nadolny for either Goku or Gohan You see, Stephanie Nadolny actually moved to New Orleans a while ago to pursue a different career path (I believe as a film director), and since Funimation Studios and Okratron 5000 (the studeos where they dub Dragon Ball) are both located in Dallas, it probably was impossible from Nadolny's side of things.

@ConfusedPhantom It's not true, that's why. TIFFANY VOLLMER moved to New Orleans, and that was AFTER production on Kai had long since begun. Stephanie is still living in Dallas, and was available. She says she has no idea why she wasn't asked to reprise her roles.

@penguintruth According to Colleen Clinkenbeard and Mike McFarland, Okatron 5000 wanted someone who was more active in the industry, and more readily available and easier to bring in and record for efficiency. When they worked on DB/Z/GT, they had to work around Stephanie's busy schedule as a singer. Apparently Kai had a more clean cut schedule, but they were able to get Dameon Clarke back since he was readily available. I'm guessing Meredith McCoy wasn't available either, but I wish they brought in someone like Stephanie Young to voice 18.

I created an account just to vote for Clinkenbeard. I just cannot stand Nadolny's voice. For one, she makes him sound way too old, and she definitely overacts in some parts, especially in his anger.

As for Henderson, she just wasn't all that good, although she did do pretty well in the three Pioneer movies. Michaels had an okay voice, but she just couldn't emote very well.

Clinkenbeard is a fantastic Gohan, IMO. Out of all the four actresses, her Gohan is the only one that actually sounds like a cute little child. Yet, at the same time, she was still able to pull off the older Cell saga Gohan pretty well too. Not to mention that she portrays Gohan's anger--or any of his emotions, really--very convincingly (plus, she's got some lungs of steel LOL). So yeah, Clinkenbeard all the way for me! :)

Steph HANDS DOWN! Just listen to that passion, she just nailed Gohans anger. She really was great as young Gohan, making him sound cute and inocent but giving him the passion and energy he should have. However the cell saga is when she got to shine. Listen to that passion, she made Gohan's anger come out and more to it she made Gohan seem like he wanted to defeat cell but wasn't sure if he could. The way she brought out all of his emotion to his angry burst of power to his reaction to 16 death. Love Collean but didn't think she was a good choice. Sometimes overacted and sounds too deep and too scratchy (or is it too gruff...raspy...whatever). She also didn't play onto Gohan's anger as much the others.

I know I've commented like a hundred times, but Stephanie was amazing as Gohan. Granted, she was a little better as Kid Goku, and her Gohan voice was at it's peak during the Cell Games Saga, but she captured the character's personality down to a T. She did more than give Gohan just a voice. You can really hear the passion behind her performance. Her Goku and Gohan, while having similar voices, are still very different characters. Saffron Henderson is also very good. Granted, at times she maybe sounds a bit too tough, but she brings out what Gohan's going through in his head, as well as his evolution of his character, and she also brought fourth his personality well. It's a shame she didn't have more time in the role. My comments about Jillian are below. Colleen was very good as the very young Gohan, but it all goes down hill from there. I thought she overacted like there's no tomorrow, her voice was annoying, and she sounded very feminine, even when Gohan was 10/11. She really made me strongly dislike the character, but I do admit that she did bring some energy to the part, especially when he's younger. However, in that clip above, it sounds like they applied a light voice filter to her "older" voice. It sounds a little artificial. Plus her scream at the end was weak, especially compared to Stephanie (with Jillian, all they did was echo her voice).

My preference: Colleen Clinkenbeard (really young Gohan), Saffron Henderson (kid Gohan), Stephanie Nadolny (older pre-teen Gohan), although my vote goes to Stephanie since I feel she accomplished all three the best, overall, without sounding generic or over doing it.

Anyone who votes for Nadolny is deafened by nostalgia earmuffs. (like blinded by nostalgia goggles, but that doesn't really apply here.) I grew up with Michaels as Gohan, but Clinkenbeard is by far the most believable voice here.

My thoughts on Colleen's voice:
- good yells (duh! had lots of practice with Luffy)
- kid Gohan voice: very cute, sounds natural
- older Gohan (Cell games): while the acting is good it now sort of sounds like a generic boy voice

I'm still very fond of Stephanie Nadolny (especially during the Cell games) but overall I like both Stephanie's voice and Colleen's voice about the same.

@penguintruth The Budokai games called Cell era Gohan "Teen Gohan". They trademarked it, so it was used for almost every video game since. Nowadays I guess people still use it because they're used to it.

Don't know why they decided to call him "teen Gohan" in the first place, though.

Poor Jillian! She's actually a very decent voice actress, but this just wasn't the role for her. To be fair, she had very little time in the character, and she jumped into Gohan right as he's growing up. Besides, she mostly voices really young boys, and while her playing a pre-teen male is interesting, she was severely miscast.

Colleen isn't a good Gohan. She lacks charm, and sounds like pretty much every other Funimation dubbed little boy. Stephanie brought a special charm that is unseen anywhere else. She made Gohan seem unique, and brought lots of character.